Cadbury to start streamlining

Work will begin within days on stage one of the $51 million
redevelopment of the Cadbury Confectionery Ltd factory in
Dunedin, the company has announced.

The project, which aimed to convert the factory into a
"centre of excellence", would begin on Monday with work to
replace the roof of the factory's main manufacturing block,
Cadbury corporate communication manager Daniel Ellis said
yesterday.

The work included raising a portion of the roof, so a new,
larger caramel cooker could be installed, he said.

"This work is a key part of Cadbury's $51 million investment
to upgrade the Dunedin factory to become a `centre of
excellence' for the production of all chocolate assortments
for the New Zealand and Australian markets," he said.

The announcement comes seven months after Cadbury management
revealed plans for the $51 million development, as well as a
proposal to shed up to 145 jobs while introducing new
high-technology, high-production machinery to the factory
over two years.

The factory employed 700 workers, rising to 800 at the height
of production season.

The factory's redevelopment was part of an overall $153
million investment plan, also encompassing Australian
factories at Claremont, Tasmania - $61 million investment,
160 job losses - and Ringwood, Victoria - $22 million, 25 job
losses - it was announced at the time.

Yesterday, Mr Ellis said the existing factory roof's steel
cladding would be stripped and replaced with a new tin
Coloursteel roof.

New ventilation ducts would also be installed.

Construction would be limited to daylight hours and was not
expected to generate "excessive" noise, he said.

The work was expected to be completed by late May.

The installation of new state-of-the-art production machinery
was also expected to begin shortly, he said.